The Gioconda Smile and Other Stories
by Aldous Huxley 
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Huxley is a fine short story writer.. The best stories are "The Giaconda Smile" and "Young Archimedes" - really superlative writing of this type.
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The Works of Aldous Huxley
49 works; 1 member
Author Information
285+ Works 104,662 Members
Aldous Huxley was born on July 26, 1894, in Surrey, England, into a distinguished scientific and literary family; his grandfather was the noted scientist and writer, T.H. Huxley. Following an eye illness at age 16 that resulted in near-blindness, Huxley abandoned hope of a career in medicine and turned instead to literature, attending Oxford show more University and graduating with honors. While at Oxford, he published two volumes of poetry. Crome Yellow, his first novel, was published in 1927 followed by Antic Hay, Those Barren Leaves, and Point Counter Point. His most famous novel, Brave New World, published in 1932, is a science fiction classic about a futuristic society controlled by technology. In all, Huxley produced 47 works during his long career, In 1947, Huxley moved with his family to southern California. During the 1950s, he experimented with mescaline and LSD. Doors of Perception and Heaven and Hell, both works of nonfiction, were based on his experiences while taking mescaline under supervision. In 1959, Aldous Huxley received the Award of Merit for the Novel from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He died on November 22, 1963. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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- Canonical title
- The Gioconda Smile and Other Stories
- Original publication date
- 1984
- People/Characters
- Alfred Petherton; Marjorie Petherton; Jacobsen; Guy Lambourne; Roger Petherton; George White (show all 22); Mr Hutton; Janet Spence; Raymond Lully; Emberlin; Sir Hercules; Mr Buzzacott; Barbara Buzzacott; Mrs Topes; Mr Topes; Walter Tillotson; Lord Badgery; Spode; Miss Penny; Melpomene Fugger; Signora Bondi; Guido [Young Archimedes]
- Important events
- World War I (1914 | 1918); Fascist regime in Italy
- First words*
- 'Miss Spence will be down directly, sir.'
- Quotations
- ["Green Tunnels":]
'Most of one's life,' Mr. Topes went on, 'is one prolonged effort to prevent oneself thinking. Your father and I, we collect pictures and read about the dead. Other people achieve the same result by drin... (show all)king, or breeding rabbits, or doing amateur carpentry. Anything rather than think calmly about the important things.'
["The Gioconda Smile":]
Whatever she said was always said with intensity. She leaned forward, aimed, so to speak, like a gun, and fired her words. Bang! the charge in her soul was ignited, the words whizzed forth at the narrow barrel of her mouth. She was a machine gun riddling her hostess with sympathy. - Last words*
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)I thought of the dead child.
- Original language
- English
- Disambiguation notice*
- Bevat verhalen die eerder zijn gepubliceerd in de bundels Mortal Coils (1922) en Little Mexican (1924, alternatieve titel: Young Archimedes).
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
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- Members
- 66
- Popularity
- 470,948
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.29)
- Languages
- English, Swedish
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 3
- ASINs
- 1
